Needle guard



Feb 1927- M. SHAUNESSEY NEEDLE GUARD Filed Dec. 5, 1923 ment with the slot in the presser foot, and

Patented Feb. 8, 1927.

MARTHA SHAUNESSEY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

NEEDLE GUARD.

Application filed December 3, 1923. Serial No. 678,300. I i

Another object of my invention is the pro vision of a needle guard of the above character which is providedwithin its body portion, with a plurality of slots or openings so that the operator may readily ascertain the condition of the needle at all times and whether or not the needle is in proper alignals'o to provide a substantially large opening at the front of the guard to provide a clear View of the needle from the front of the guard with smaller openings upon each side of the guard so that the needle may be viewed from either side of the guard.

A further object of my invention is the provision of a needle guard having the bottom portion thereof inclined inwardly toward the presser foot so thatthe bottom portion .of the guard may be brought into close proximity to the presser foot and en'- able the fingers of the operator to pass .close to-the presser foot when guiding material beneath the same and at the same time eliminate the possibility of the guard from striking the fingers of theoperator or of the operator from bringing his fingers into contact with the needle.

- A still further object of the invention is the provision of a needle guard which may bequickly and readily attached or detached with respect to the presser bar .andwherein the guard is so constructed as to permit theclamping member which retains the needle in its position with respect to the needle bar, moving downwardly the limit of its stroke, without in any way coming in contact with the fingers of the operator while guiding a piece of material beneath the presser foot.

lVith the above and other objects in view the invention consists in the novel features in construction, the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully set forth; pointed out in the claims and shown in the accompanying drawings in which i I Fig. 1 is a side elevation illustrating my improved guard in operative position,

Fig. 2 is a front elevation. Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view.

Fig. 4 is a detail vertical section ,on'the.

line 4.4 of Fig. 1. s

Fig. 5 is an enlarged longitudinal section on the line 55 of Fig. 1; 7

Pics.

F ig. 6 is a detail transverse section on the line 66 of Fig. 2. a

Fig. '7 is a section taken on the line of Fig. 2, i

. In the accompanying drawings wherein reference characters are used to designate the several parts the numeral 1 indicates the presser bar 1 to the lower end of which is attached the usual presser foot 2. Arranged adjacent the presser bar 1 is the usual nee: dle bar 3 having the needle A attached to the lower end thereof and retained in posis tion by means of the clamp 5 which carries a set screw .6. Attention is hereby directed to the fact that this set screw 6 is used on' a great many of well known makes of sew.- mg machines and in view .of the downward movement of the needle bar, this screw n a great many instances is liable. to come in contact with the fingers or hand of the Open ator and cause injury thereto, It is alsoa well known fact that in. a great many instances the operators of machines of this character accidentally get their fingers in contact with the needles upon its movement through the presser foot 2 causing considerable injury to theoperator.

In order to protect the fingers of the operator from the needle l and, the members 5 and 6 a suitable guard enclosesthesame and in the present instance my improved guard comprises a back plate 7 whichhas member 8 the ends of which are slightly bowed as shown in Fig. 6 and embrace the presser bar 1. The side arms 9 of the clamp 8 are disposed upon opposite sides of the presser bar 1 and forcibly clampedthereto by means of the transverse bolt 10 which extends through the arms of the clamp and may be secured against movement further by the nut 11 or byhaving one end of the bolt threaded through one of the arms ,9.

The back plate 7 is provided upon one side edge thereof with a plurality of sleeves 12 which are arranged alternately with the sleeves 13 of the body guard 14. The body guard is formed of a single sheet of metal of a suitable size whereby when the same is arcuately curved as illustrated in the drawings, the sleeves 13 may be formed upon one edge and arranged alternate as hereto-- fore described, with the sleeves 12 on the plate 7 and a suitable pintle 15 extended through the aligned sleeves for hingedly connecting the body guard i l to the back plate 7.

It is a well known fact that in the construction of presser feet one of the arms 7 of each presser foot is substantially longer L than the other and in the positioning of my body guard with respect to the presser foot it will be noted that a slightly curved effect is given to one side of the bodyguard clearly illustrated in Fig. 7 bringing the main portion of the guard above the shorter arm of the presser foot, as the operators of machines of this character have a greater tendency to bring their fingers into close contact with this short arm of the presser foot which allows the operator to bring his fingers closer to the movable needle causing edge of the bodyguard 14 opposite the sleeves 13 is provided with a small. beading 18 which is adapted to be engaged by means of a spring catchmember 19 formed upon one edge of the back plate 7 whereby the body guard 14 may be quickly and readily positioned around the needle and retained in this position until force is exerted to release the catch 19.

' I wish to call particular attention to the formation of the lower end of the body guard wherein the lower edge of the same is' curved downwardly and inwardly as at 20 so as to bring the extreme lower edge of the guard into close proximity to the presser foot whereby to permit the fingers of the operator to pass closely to the presser foot and at the same time eliminate the liability of accident through the contact of the fingers of the operator'with the presser foot or the needle. This curved portion 20 is preferably on the curved side of the body guard and arranged above the short arm brought down closely to the presser foot to not only protect the fingers of the operator from engagement with the needle but to protect the same from contact with the set screw 6 which 15 used upon a great many well known makes of machines. As noted in Fig. 5 the curved portion 20 embraces the set screw 6 at the limit of the downward movement of the needle l.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that by providing a needle guard of this character, the condition of the needle may be readily ascertained by the operator at all times as the needle is clearly visible from any pointin front of the guard and as the guard itself is provided with a back plate, this will form a substantialbackground when viewing the needle, so that the same may be readily brought into the operatorsview when desired. It will also be noted that the body guard 14 may bequickly and readily opened to permit adjustment of the needle 4; or for removing a broken needle toreplace the same with a new one, and at of the presser foot as shown in Fig. 7, and

the same time is quickly and readily attached o. i

or detached with respect to the presser bar 1. i a

While I have shown and described the preferred form of my invention I' wish it to be understood that various changes and alterations may be carried out during the manufacture of the same without departing from the spirit'of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is f p c 1. A. needle guard including a back plate adapted to'be disposed when in operative position to the rear of a needle bar and forwardly of a pressure bar'of a sewing machine, a guard body having a longitudinal edge portion pivotally connected to'one of the longitudinal edge portions of the back plate and extending from said longitudinal edge portion in a forwardly direction and curved in a direction forwardly and rearwardly of the needle bar toward the oppo site longitudinal edge of the back plate, said guard body having a lower edge portion curved downwardly and inwardly toward the center of the guard body, and means for releasably securing the opposite longitudinal edge portion of the guard body to the opposite longitudinal edge portion of the back plate.

2. In a needle guard, a back plate, means for securing said plate to a pressure bar of a sewing machine, a guard plate hinged at one edge to one edge of the back plate and shaped to extend forwardly from the back plate and form therewith an enclosing housing for a sewingmachine needle when said guard plate is in closed position relative to the back plate, and means for releasably securing the other edge of the I guard plate to the other edge of-said back plate.

3. In a needle guard, a back plate, means for securing said plate to a pressure bar of a sewing machine, a guard plate hinged at one edge to one edge of the back plate and shaped to extend forwardly from, the back plate and form therewith an enclosing housing for a sewing machine needle when said guard plate is in closed position relative to the back plate, the lower edge portion of the guard plate being curved downwardly and inwardly to facilitate the passage beneath the same of materials being sewed,

and means for releasably securing the other plate adapted to be disposed when in oper: ative position to the rear of said needle bar and forwardly of said pressure bar, a guard body having a longitudinal edge portion pivotally connected to one of the longitudinal edge portions of the back plate'and extend-i 7 ing from said longitudinal edge portion in a forward direction and curved in a direction forwardly and rearwardly of the needle bar toward the opposite longitudinal edge of the back plate, said guard body having a lower edge portion curved downwardly o .and inwardly toward the center of the guard body, means for releasably securing theop posite longitudinal edge portion of the guard body to the opposite longitudinal edge portion of thev back plate, and said guard body and back plate each being of such vertical extent to form a guard sub- I stantially surrounding that portion of the needle above the pressure foot in all of the positions of' its reciprocation.

In testlmony whereof I afiix my signature. v

MARTHA sHAU E ssEY. 

